Key events
Michael Jung wins indivdual eventing gold for Germany, Australia take silver, GB take bronze 🥇🐴
Michael Jung has won gold with Chipmunk in the individual eventing. It is Jung’s historic third individual title.
Australia’s Christopher Burton and Shadow Ban took silver, and Team GB’s Laura Collett, riding London 52 took bronze.
More details soon …
Eventing individual jumping: Michael Jung and Chipmunk from Germany are now riding for gold …
I need to quickly turn my attention to the equestrian sports quickly. Laura Collett, riding London 52, has just guaranteed herself at least a bronze medal. Australia’s Christopher Burton and Shadow Ban has just earned at least a silver.
Men’s and women’s tennis singles: just to confirm that both number one seeds, Iga Świątek in the women’s and Novak Djokovic in the men’s, have cruised through their second round matches.
The co-comms on Eurosport has just said “I’ve been sat in a chair for an hour-and-a-half and I feel like I need a break after watching that”, and I concur. What a thrilling race to watch. Incredible stuff.
An astonishing epic race, with the lead changing hands a couple of times on the last lap. How Tom Pidcock – who had Covid the other week – had the effort to recover from that puncture and being sent back into the pack halfway through the race I will never know.
Poor Victor Koretzky though, in front of his home crowd, he just didn’t have the legs right at the end. He will no doubt look back fondly on the medal in the end, but he must be disappointed having come so, so, so close to making it a French double gold in the cross-country races.
Tom Pidcock wins gold for Team GB! 🥇🥇🥇🥇
After an astonishingly tight race, including a thirty second time loss by Team GB’s Tom Pidcock due to a puncture that he recovered from, he takes gold at the death.
France’s Victor Koretzky has a heroic silver after an epic battle between the two on the last couple of laps. Alan Hatherly of South Africa takes bronze.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Pidcock gets back in front as the pair nearly clash!
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Pidcock got back in front of Koretzky momentarily, and then the Frenchman breezes back past him.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Victor Koretzky (Fra) goes. Can Pidcock respond? It doesn’t look like it.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Pidcock attacks. Koretzky stays with him. Hatherly is hanging on in here to this group. They are on a long steep climb now.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: the leading group all decline to use the feeding station, and have reached the first split on the last lap. Pidcock leads Koretzky but there’s nothing in it. It will all come down to who has the legs at the last.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Luca Baridot of Italy is in fourth, poised to take advantage of any mistakes among the first three riders.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: can you live blog something from behind the sofa with your hands-over-your-eyes because you are too nervous to watch? I’m going to find out. Tom Pidcock (GBr), Victor Koretzky (Fra) and Alan Hatherly (RSA) make up the leading group who will almost certainly take the medals but it is impossible to call right now.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: the bell sounds. It is Pidcock then Koretzky together, and Hatherly has also regrouped with them. These three have a 15 second gap on Braidot, and will fancy they have the monopoly on the medals. But who? What a race this is. I love cycling.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Koretzky has kept up with Pidcock on those attacks, and they have settled back to a group of two, with Pidcock in front.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: what will this have done to Koretzky mentally to lose the lead at this stage? Pidcock attacks again! The pair have pulled out a five second gap on third-placed Hatherly!
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Victor Koretzky (Fra), Tom Pidcock (GBr) and Alan Hatherly (RSA) have now formed a leading group of three. Pidcock attacks!
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Victor Koretzky (Fra) has had his lead whittled down to just five seconds as we reach the first split on lap seven. This is going to be tense. Pidcock is second. Hatherly is third.
Women’s rugby sevens: Japan have just run in a free-scoring victory over Brazil by 39 to 12. I *think* this result confirms that Ireland have qualified as a best third-placed side. I’ll figure all that out for sure when the cycling has finished.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Victor Koretzky (Fra) is 17 seconds in front of Tom Pidcock (GBr) and Alan Hatherly (RSA), Incredible to think Pidcock earlier lost more than 30 seconds with a puncture.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Nino Schurter (Sui) has had an awkward moment in the rocks where he kept the bike upright but ended up off the saddle, and let’s just say I hope his suit had good padding in the nethers. At the front Pidcock has got on the back of Hatherly in second and third place.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Victor Koretzky (Fra) remains out front, but the bronze medal chasing group of Pidcock, Flueckiger and Braidot have got South Africa’s Alan Hatherly in their sights. They are approaching the end of lap six. There is going to be some finish here, plenty of racing – and risk – ahead.
Women’s tennis singles: Coco Gauff was serving for the match against María Lourdes Carlé, but the Argentine broke her serve. Gauff leads 5-1 in the second set, having taken the first.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: it is the end of the fifth lap of eight. Victor Koretzky (Fra) leads Alan Hatherly (RSA) by 13 seconds. 21 seconds behind him is a “bronze” medal chasing group which features Team GB’s Tom Pidcock and Charlie Aldridge. Sam Gaze of New Zealand is in the mix there, as is Mathias Flueckiger (Sui). Luca Braidot is also in there.
Liam Pitchford for Team GB has won his opening singles game in the table tennis.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: “Ten seconds Alan, you’re doing great!” his pit team yell at Alan Hatherly (RSA) in second place as he goes through to take a drink in the pits.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Victor Koretzky (Fra) retains a ten second lead over Alan Hatherly (RSA) and Mathias Flueckiger (Sui). Team GB’s Charlie Aldridge is a little furtherback with New Zealand’s Sam Gaze. Pidcock has hauled himself back to sixth after that puncture nad botched wheel change. They’ve been going 45 minutes so are around the halfway mark.
Women’s rugby sevens: Australia beat Ireland 19-14. Australia top Pool B, and Great Britain progress too. Ireland sweat on being one of the two third-placed teams that also go through.
Men’s tennis singles: Rafael Nadal needed something special, and he has instead had his serve broken by Novak Djokovic, who leads 6-1 3-0.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Victor Koretzky (Fra) is now out in front on his own, with nine seconds on Alan Hatherly (RSA). Pidcock’s flat was at least close to the techzone, but he is now over 30 seconds off the lead. Koretzky must be dreaming of a French double gold in this discipline.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: flat tire for Tom Pidcock. DISASTER! The team weren’t ready in the pit area either!
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: we are half-hour in and Tom Pidcock (GBr) and Victor Koretzky (Fra) are out in front as a group of two at the end of lap three. The chasing group is 13 seconds back and consists of Mathias Flueckiger (Sui), Alan Hatherly (RSA) and Charlie Aldridge (Gbr). Koretzky made sure that Pidcock could not establish a solo lead. Which of them will attack next?
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: Tom Pidcock has made a three second gap at the front over Victor Koretzky (Fra) now, and the pair have got away from the group.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: at the first split in lap three it is obvious that nobody has really got away yet in this race. 13 riders are separated by about ten seconds, and then there is a small gap back to the rest of the field. But now there is a move by Tom Pidcock who hits the front …
Women’s tennis singles: second seed Coco Gauff is in action. The young US star has taken the first set 6-1 against María Lourdes Carlé of Argentina.
Women’s rugby sevens: we established yesterday that I don’t know the nickname for the Australia team here, but they are 7-0 up against Ireland. This is in the same pool as Great Britain, and an Australian victory would see both Australia and Team GB progress.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: lap two has finished with the same four at the front:
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Mathias Flueckiger (Sui)
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Tom Pidcock (GBr)
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Victor Koretzky (Fra)
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Nino Schurter (Sui)
Men’s tennis singles: Novak Djokovic has rather convincingly won the first set against Rafael Nadal, 6-1.
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: the first lap has finished, but the timing data hasn’t come up on the Olympic website, which is, to be honest, sub-optimal from a live blogging point of view. We are fifteen minutes in. At split one in lap two the front group of five are Mathias Flueckiger and Nino Schurter of Switzerland, Victor Koretzky of France, Tom Pidcock of Great Britain and Alan Hatherly of South Africa.
Women’s rugby sevens: Great Britain have done it. A superb comeback win against South Africa. It has finished 26-17. According to my abacus that means they reach the quarter-finals.
Women’s rugby sevens: Great Britain have staged a comeback here, despite receiving a yellow card. They are 19-17 up with a minute to go against South Africa!
Men’s mountain bike cross-country: this has started. There are 36 riders from 28 nations. South Africa’s Alan Hatherly is setting the early pace.
Here is the image Team GB’s social media team have picked to celebrate that gold medal …
Women’s rugby sevens: South Africa are taking a 12-7 lead into half-time against Great Britain. It is the last pool match and Team GB really need a win here to progress.
Thanks Barry! I disappear for two hours and miss the first Team GB gold. Typical. I did have a cheeky croque monsieur for lunch though, so it wasn’t all wasted time. I’m very excited about the cycling coming up here – the women’s race yesterday was brilliant with Pauline Ferrand Prévot running away with it.
Men’s mountain biking: What promises to be a cracking race despite defending champion Tom Pidcock’s description of the course as “bland” is due to start in a few minutes. Martin Belam is here to take up the cudgels …
Equestrianism: The 25 leading riders after the team competition will now progress to the individual jump-off, where Team GB’s Laura Collett and Tom McEwen will both fancy their chances of bagging individual medals, with just one fence separating the top four riders.
Great Britain win team gold in eventing!
Equestrianism: With four fences in hand, Laura Collett and her mount London 52 only needed to avoid total disaster in the final round of the showjumping to win gold for Great Britain in the eventing and they duly do so, punching the air in celebration. They finish in first place with a score of 91.30, ahead of France on 103.60 and Japan on 115.80.
Jack Snape
Boxing: Tokyo bronze medallist Harry Garside broke down in tears after losing his first-round bout in the men’s 63.5kg boxing at the North Paris Arena.
The 27-year-old Australian – who put on hold professional boxing plans to return to the Olympic stage – narrowly won the first round against Hungarian Richard Kovacs, but his counterpunching opponent proved too wily and took rounds two and three.
Garside said afterwards he felt “very numb” and “a failure”. His emotions meant he was unable to continue his media conference and he momentarily went down on his haunches, before composing himself and walking away.
Kieran Pender
Swimming: And in the last heats of the morning at the pool, the punishing 16-lap men’s 800m freestyle, Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen was fastest to qualify for tomorrow night’s final, with Tunisian Ahmed Jaouadi in second. Italian long-distance swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri was next, followed by Australia’s Elijah Winnington in fourth.
But it was agony for young Australian Sam Short, who placed ninth fastest and will miss the final. The 20-year-old won silver in the discipline at last year’s world championships, but has been under pace at the Olympic meet – possibly still affected by an illness that hit during last month’s Australian trials. Short finished just off the podium in fourth in the 400m freestyle on Saturday.